As has been reported by Gamespot.com Microsoft is planning to release a slimmed down version of the Xbox2 for the Japanese market. While I think it's a nice move, I somehow fail to see the need for two versions of the console. I mean, remember the release of the Xbox and esp. its old bulky controller. Nearly everyone was complaining about the size of the controller and also of the Xbox itself. Some months later MS released the smaller S-controller (which was previously released in Japan) in the USA and Europe and it was a huge success. They even stopped bundling the old controller with the Xbox package and included the S-controller from now on. So I can't really understand why MS doesn't want to release the smaller version of the Xbox 2 also in the USA and Europe.